The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries "The Mystery of the African Safari" #2.6 (1977)

Not very good, but harmless enough, 23 June 2017

While The Mystery of the African Safari is harmless enough fun, it includes many of the things that drive me crazy about a lot of the series. Start with the plot – Frank and Joe help their father get to the bottom of a poaching ring in Kenya. Yeah, right. I'm not buying it. The Season 2 decision to send the Hardy Boys to far flung locations like Egypt, Transylvania, and Kenya never sat well with me. Like I've said before, I much prefer the more homegrown episodes where the boys investigate something like a haunted lighthouse or buried pirate treasure – not traipsing around a poorly designed and executed stand-in for Africa. And, the Hardys would have never been much of a match for real poachers. The boys would have been in way over their heads. Real poachers would have shot these guys on sight. It doesn't work for me.

The Boys big break in the case comes from a photo they take that shows a dead elephant in the background. So a picture of a dead elephant is all you need for proof of poaching? Animals die all the time and it's not always the result of poaching.

Also, if Frank and Joe are supposed to be in the African bush, where do they get their shirts starched and pressed? They're too immaculately dressed for a couple of guys in the wilds of Kenya. And how much time and effort are they spending on their well quaffed hair? It's all so ridiculous.

I've seen this episode a couple of times and never realized that Anne Lockhart was June Lockhart's daughter. I'm not sure why I never made the connection – they look so much alike.

4/10